The Shock of Brewing Aged Tea for the First Time: A Feeling the Body Remembers
I will never forget the first time I brewed aged tea. I was in my twenties, in a senior's tea room.
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Tea Journal & Cultural Notes
Tea notes, mountain context, brewing records, and manor updates.
Dragon Boat Festival: Hang Mugwort, Warm the Body with Black Tea to Ward Off the Damp Cold
Besides eating zongzi and watching dragon boat races, the Dragon Boat Festival also has a tradition stretching back thousands of years: hanging mugwort.
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Dragon Boat Festival: Pairing Zongzi with Raw Pu-erh Tea for Perfect Digestion
This Dragon Boat Festival I prepared the 2023 Jingmai Ancient Tree Raw Pu-erh. Jingmai Mountain is in Lancang County, Pu'er City, Yunnan, at about 1,400 metres elevation.
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Storage Is Like Nurturing Health: Environment Determines Quality
Many tea drinkers do not pay attention to storage. They think once you buy tea, you just put it aside and forget about it.
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The Wisdom of Blending: The Body Needs Diverse Nourishment
Many tea drinkers pursue "pure material," believing blended tea is inferior. But after decades in the tea trade, I can say with certainty: a good blend is harder to achieve than pure material.
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Bamboo Tube Tea at the Water-Splashing Festival: The Wisdom of the Dai People
At the Water-Splashing Festival in Xishuangbanna, besides splashing water and drinking raw pu-erh, there is something else I love — bamboo tube tea.
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Water-Splashing Festival in Xishuangbanna: Soaked Through, Then a Pot of Raw Tea
The Water-Splashing Festival is the Dai people's New Year, held every year in mid-April in Xishuangbanna. The festival's signature activity is splashing water — everyone douses each other with blessings, and you end up completely soaked and happier for it.
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The Three-Course Tea of March Fair: The Bai People’s Way of Welcoming Guests
Besides the tea market, the March Fair has another experience well worth seeking out — the Bai people's Three-Course Tea.
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The Tea Market at March Fair: The Thrill of Finding Treasure
The March Fair is a traditional Bai festival and market, held every year from the fifteenth to the twenty-first of the third lunar month in Dali.
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Qingming Season: An Aged Tea for Remembrance
Qingming season, with its drizzling rain. Every year at this time, I take out an aged tea cake, sit by the window, and drink slowly.
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Qingming Rains: A Pot of Ripe Tea to Drive Away Dampness
"During the Qingming season, the rain falls thick and fast" — that line of poetry captures it perfectly. Every year around Qingming, the weather becomes unbearably damp.
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Qingming Grave-Sweeping: Bring a Pot of Tea for the Ancestors
Qingming grave-sweeping — bring a pot of tea. This is our family tradition.
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